


Thrice Shall He Be Marked

by Manetherendrelle (EndlessGloaming)



Category: Wheel of Time - Robert Jordan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, But he's good at denial so it still takes a while, F/M, Multi, Polyamory, Rand can't be in denial quite so long, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-16
Updated: 2021-03-10
Packaged: 2021-03-11 05:01:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 8,383
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28099626
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EndlessGloaming/pseuds/Manetherendrelle
Summary: "Lad, what happened to your chest?" Tam had been using his axe on young trees some distance across the new clearing from Rand, but now he'd stopped, looking at Rand with concern.Rand looked down at his chest and saw...writing?shepherd with a heronHe couldn't get far enough back to read the rest of it, but blurry text continued in an arc in both directions.Tam was striding up to him, eyes intent on the words. Smile spreading across his face, Tam said, "Soulmark." Brushing some of the dirt off Rand's chest, his smile fell, then his face paled."What? What's the matter?""Let's go back to the house so you can take a look at this yourself."--"Folks say a soulmark is the Pattern writing itself right on your skin. Can't say I'm easy with that."--overheard in a tavern in Baerlon
Relationships: Nynaeve al'Meara/Lan Mandragoran, Rand al'Thor/Aviendha, Rand al'Thor/Aviendha/Min Farshaw/Elayne Trakand, Rand al'Thor/Elayne Trakand, Rand al'Thor/Min Farshaw
Comments: 39
Kudos: 34





	1. The Last Quiet Summer

**Author's Note:**

> So I've been working on and off on a long, serious post-AMoL fic, but then I read a couple of soulmark fics and my brain was like "imma ram the soulmark trope into WoT and Rand's gonna get THREE MARKS and that's gonna be dope!" so here we are. 
> 
> I'm mostly following canon, but not exactly; mostly I'm trying to stay true to the characters and be internally consistent, but do let me know if I've created a loose end and not resolved it. I've tried to avoid repeating things that happened in canon too much, so I've skimmed over quite a bit both between and within scenes/chapters, but if there is somewhere I've left out so much that it's confusing, or you think a summary of something I'm skipping over is merited, let me know about that too.

_The summer before that fateful Winternight_

Rand heaved on the long handle of the pry bar and another stump popped free from the ground, flinging more dirt onto him. This patch of ground must have had good soil for all these small trees to pop up here so quickly, but Light, it was a lot of work to clear.

Shaking his head, Rand jammed the pry bar under another root. He absently scratched at his chest before leaning into the bar again. Between the midday sun, all the dirt that had gotten onto him, and the plants he'd brushed into, he itched over most of his upper body. Maybe he should have left his shirt on, but even by mid morning he'd felt like he was roasting in his own sweat.

"Lad, what happened to your chest?" Tam had been using his axe on young trees some distance across the new clearing from Rand, but now he'd stopped, looking at Rand with concern.

Rand looked down where he'd been scratching and saw...writing?

_shepherd with a heron_

He couldn't get far enough back to read the rest of it, but blurry text continued in an arc in both directions.

Tam was striding up to him, eyes intent on the words. Smile spreading across his face, Tam said, "Soulmark." Brushing some of the dirt off Rand's chest, his smile fell, then his face paled.

"What? What's the matter?"

"Let's go back to the house so you can take a look at this yourself." Tam smiled, but it was weak. "It's past time for lunch anyway."

Rand half ran back to the house, barely stopping to rinse off all that dirt in a stream on the way. Normally the cool water would have been delightful - it was a relief even still - but mostly he wanted to get to a mirror to see what had his father so concerned.

"Shepherd with a heron"? There were herons about, occasionally, usually in the Waterwood, by why would he _have_ one? Or did it not refer to him? No, no point getting worked up or coming up with wild theories when he hadn't even seen all of it.

He bounded up onto the porch and through the front door, then ran to the small mirror he and his father used to shave and grabbed it off the wall. Angling it to see his chest, he saw the words in the pleasant, rounded hand continued in both directions: "A shepherd with a heron-mark sword." But that wasn't all, nor the most troubling part. In another hand, almost too perfect and beautiful to be real, were more words: "They're keeping him from touching the True Source, silly." And in yet a different hand, sharp and bold, "I don't like you, wetlander." All the words together made a circle, each sentence forming a third of it, centered on his chest.

_Keeping_ him _from touching the True Source?_ Light, a male channeler! But somebody would be keeping him from channeling, it sounded like. So maybe he wouldn't be in immediate danger, but Light, he didn't want to be anywhere near a man who could channel.

Tam entered the house, eyeing Rand as he looked at the words in the mirror. Rand swallowed. Maybe his father could help him make sense of at least some of this. "Heron-mark sword? What does that mean?" And what shepherd would have a sword anyway?

Tam sighed. "It's a blademaster's weapon, only given to those who are the best of the best, decided by a group of blademasters, or if somebody kills a blademaster in single combat. Takes many years to get good enough to earn one."

"I guess that means it'll be many years before I meet her, unless she's not talking about me. Most of the people in the Two Rivers could be called shepherds." Rand wanted to dwell on each part and speculate, but he also wanted to get to the most curious things quickly.

"And 'wetlander?' Is that going to be some crack about the Waterwood?"

Tam compressed his lips. He seemed to be struggling over something. "It's what the Aiel call people from this side of the Dragonwall."

"Aiel! So...I'm going to meet an Aiel woman? But they kill people who come to the Waste, don't they? And they only ever left the Waste during the Aiel War, right? Does that mean there's going to be another war?"

Tam put his hands up. "Slow down there, lad. There are a lot of odd ways things work out, especially around Soulmarks. Maybe it'll be a joke. Maybe it won't have anything to do with the Aiel after all. Or maybe you'll wind up traveling with a peddler to see the world. They let peddlers in. And gleeman." Tam smiled. "Maybe you'll learn to sing and play music."

Rand couldn't help but laugh at that, much as it all weighed at him. "That would be something, wouldn't it? I never really even thought about leaving the Two Rivers. Or using a sword." Scrubbing his hand through his hair, Rand pushed on to the question that seemed the hardest of all. "Why does it look like three different women wrote it?"

Tam shook his head. "That I have no answer for. Never seen it nor heard of it." Tam gazed at him, eyes betraying his worry. "I hope it doesn't mean you have a hard road ahead of you, but...each of those is enough to make a man wonder, and the three like that, well...I suppose we'll both be thinking about it."

Rand had too many questions and no answers for any of them. Tam didn't bring up the one that mentioned a man touching the True Source, and Rand wasn't going to either.

Surely Egwene had never said any of those words, and he couldn't imagine she ever would. None of these looked like her writing, either. And no matter what, she wasn't going to be happy about there being two other hands. Had she gotten a Soulmark? She hadn't braided her hair the last Rand saw, but she likely would soon.

"How do Soulmarks work if it's somebody you've known since you were a child?" Rand asked. "Does the Mark always form before you hear the words? Or are they not always the first words somebody says to you?"

Tam shrugged. "I wish I knew. People don't talk that much about them. Common wisdom is that they're the first words your Soulmate says to you, and they burn and turn from black to red when it happens, and that's that. But people don't always know what they think they know. I once heard it's a kind of Foretelling, something from the Pattern. That makes folks uneasy." Tam cleared his throat. "And even with Marks being common enough around here, I'd still keep those you have hidden. Tricky with them on your chest, but still, best not show them if you don't have to."

Rand nodded. He'd keep his shirts buttoned or tied all the way to the neck if anyone might be around. It could be worse. He'd seen one man with his Soulmark on his hands, and a woman who had hers on the back of her neck.

"Will you get the fire going?" Tam asked. "Might as well heat up the stew."

Rand set to work, but his mind was not on what he was doing. Did he want to leave the Two Rivers and see the world? Who would help Tam take care of the sheep and grow the tabac? But the most straightforward interpretation of his Marks was that he would become a blademaster, see a man who could channel but who was being kept from it, and travel into the Aiel Waste some way that wouldn't get him killed on sight.

Maybe it wasn't a Soulmark at all. Maybe something would happen next time he saw Egwene. Maybe a blademaster would visit, and some other girl from the Two Rivers would comment on him...and say something about the Waterwood? But why in different writing?

Rand wasn't sure he'd be able to eat lunch, hungry as he'd gotten while working.

***

Later that summer, before the harvest got going, Rand went out to the Waterwood with Mat and Perrin. There were fish to be hooked and ducks to be shot, but before anything else, Rand wanted to get in that water. Last time they'd been here, it had been spring, and the water was too brisk for anything but a quick dip.

With nothing but nods toward the water and to each other to agree what they were doing first, the three young men set their things down by the edge of the lake and stripped off. Before Rand even got a toe wet, Mat grabbed him by the shoulder and turned him, scrutinizing Rand's chest. "That's gotta be a Soulmark, but why is the writing so different? And what's 'wetlander' supposed to mean? Light, your Soulmate's first words to you are going to be that she doesn't like you? And, blood and bloody ashes, a man touching the True Source?!"

By now, Perrin had come over to look too. "It looks like it was written by three different people."

"You can have more than one Soulmate?" Mat asked. "Does that mean you're going to be widowed and remarry twice? Or--" Mat's eyes went wide "have three women at once?"

Rand batted Mat's hand away. "Don't be ridiculous. No man has three women at the same time. That would be awful. He'd have to be lying to all of them. You know I'd never do anything like that."

Mat crossed his arms. "Yeah, you wouldn't, would you?"

"So is it three women?" Perrin said. "Or is it one woman that somehow writes three very different ways?"

"Oo, maybe you're going to marry a forger! Move to a big city and live an exciting life of crime!"

Rand just scowled at Mat. Thankfully, Mat's attention was stolen away by words on Perrin's shoulder. "You too? Burn me, I didn't get one."

Perrin shrugged. "You still might."

"And you'll have somebody who's going _back_ to Illian!" Mat said. "I bet that means you'll go to Illian too."

Rand read the fine, proper script on Perrin's broad shoulder while the other two talked. _Well, I never expected my travels to take me back to Illian so soon as this._ At least that didn't make any obvious references to dangers.

"It's not fair," Mat went on. "It sounds like you two are going to get out of the Two Rivers and have adventures for sure. What if I'm stuck here?"

"Mat, if the two of us leave the Two Rivers, what are the odds that you won't?" Rand asked. "Light, you'd probably go off even if we didn't."

Mat grinned. "You're right. I don't need any writing on me to go off and see the world. I can decide to do it on my own!"

Rand nodded. Perrin had been eyeing Rand's chest the whole time. "I haven't seen a lot of Soulmarks, but I've never heard of one anything like that. Light, Rand, what are you going to get yourself into?"

Rand shrugged. "I wish I knew."

They continued on about Rand's Mark, with Mat coming up with a lot of the same speculation Rand had, and Perrin putting in a few thoughts. Mat probably could have kept going, but Rand finally put his hands up. "Look, I don't really like this thing, and there's nothing I can do about it - and I don't want everybody talking about it like this. Can you both promise not to tell anyone? Not anyone at all, not even that I have a Soulmark."

Perrin nodded and Mat grumbled, but they both promised.

"Thank you. Now can we get in the water?"

Rather than speaking, Mat darted for the boulder that stuck out into the lake and leapt off it, hitting the surface with a great splash. Rand and Perrin joined him, and soon they were all laughing and splashing each other. Rand's discomfiting Mark slipped blessedly from his mind. He wanted nothing to do with swords, or tainted _saidin_ , or the Aiel. Or having three Soulmates.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First exchanges:  
> Min & Rand: EotW p212  
> Elayne & Rand: EotW p549  
> Aviendha & Rand (though I didn't quote this one): tSR location 5982 (sorry; it's what my Kindle edition shows - it's at 35% through the book)  
> I have Min and Elayne's first words to Rand as they appear in canon, but not Aviendha's. Their first interaction might have happened off screen, and I went with that.  
> No, I don't think Mat and Tuon are soulmates. I'm just not buying it. And besides, in this universe, people can have great relationships without being soulmates.


	2. Winternight

Lan followed Moiraine through the small village, Emond's Field, about two paces behind her. It was the distance he judged to be the best compromise between watching around her in all directions and being able to counter threats coming at her from the front. That the quiet town seemed exceptionally unlikely to present threats did not matter; the worst attacks were often those you least expected. In the whole district of the Two Rivers, not one man he'd seen carried any blade larger than a belt knife, but a few carried staves, some of which had a peculiar curve - no, not just staves; bowstaves. Lan chided himself for not recognizing them immediately, though they were longer than any bow he'd seen. What would the range be on a bow like that? Perhaps he'd acquire one while they were here. It had been a long time since Lan had tried a new weapon.

In the center of the village, Moiraine conversed with a number of the townsfolk, gaining useful information from only a few of them. A few boys not old enough to shave stared openly, but mostly, the people nearby were trying not to be too obvious about shooting them glances, though clearly they'd never seen anyone like the Warder and his Aes Sedai. At least these folks didn't know what an ageless face meant.

An intense young woman, staff in one hand, was striding across the green. Moiraine lifted a hand to catch her attention.

"Pardon, child. Can you tell me where the town Wisdom is?"

The woman looked both of them up and down with the rapid weighing and measuring Lan had come to associate with Aes Sedai and queens. " _I_ am the town Wisdom." Her voice was full and confident, with a hard edge.

"My apologies, Wisdom. I am glad to find you. I was hoping...."

Moiraine went on with her questions, the same sort she'd been asking for years now. She had it perfected, at least as much as was possible given that each place and person required their own approach. A scattering of generic questions as cover for their true purpose, perhaps a few to flatter the knowledge of whomever the Aes Sedai was speaking to, and, by oblique approach, the ages of young men and if any might have been born near Dragonmount.

At a question about townsfolk who'd traveled outside the district, the Wisdom narrowed her eyes. "And just why do you want to know all of these things?"

"I am a collector of stories," Moiraine said. "The area you now call the Two Rivers has a longer and more interesting history than I suspect most here are aware."

"That may be the case, but I don't see why you need to go asking such questions as you have. You aren't to go causing trouble for the good people of Emond's field, do you hear me?" The young Wisdom turned her fierce eyes on Lan, inspecting him critically. "Especially you there, with that sword."

_Especially you there, with that sword_.

Lan bowed his head mechanically, and the Wisdom went on at Moiraine. The next exchanges between the women were lost to Lan as the Wisdom's words at once froze in his mind and burned on his arm. _This_ was his Soulmate? A woman not half his age and from a town harder to get to than perhaps any this side of the Dragonwall?

Peace, but she was fierce. Those eyes could burn holes in a man. And apparently she would do it if she thought anyone threatened her people.

Lan forced all of his attention into scanning the surroundings, looking anywhere except at the Wisdom. She did aim a couple of further remarks at Lan, but he made quite certain to respond with no more than nods and one grunt. Surely that didn't count as words to her - and as she showed no reaction, it seemed it had not.

Moiraine got the Wisdom - Nynaeve al'Meara - in a slightly better temper asking her about herbs, of which she had an impressive knowledge. A few minutes into this, Moiraine's eyes flicked sideways. A man walked by with what could only have been a Soulmark right on his neck. Nynaeve noticed her glance and raised a questioning eyebrow.

"That's the second Soulmark I've seen in just my short time walking about town," Moiraine said. "Are they common here?"

It could have been coincidence that this came up now, but Lan wouldn't have been surprised if Moiraine had asked on purpose; she certainly knew what those words were Nynaeve had said, and felt Lan's reaction. If asked, though, the Aes Sedai was as likely to say "The Wheel weaves as the Wheel wills," or something about the Pattern. Not that Lan didn't believe her - I would have been hard to follow her nearly two decades if he did not - but right now it was infuriating.

Nynaeve answered slowly. "I don't know about common, but I'd guess about one person in ten has one, maybe one in five. It's hard to know for sure, of course."

Moiraine's eyes widened, as much as a startled gasp from most people. "Remarkable. Yes, that would make them far more common than in most places."

They went on a bit more before Nynaeve - the Wisdom - said she had things she needed to do and couldn't spend all day talking, then left, making barely a farewell and not so much as a nod of respect before she strode away.

Moiraine gave Lan the subtlest of smiles, but fortunately, one of those young boys walked up to Moiraine and started gushing at her. For once, Lan would not object to someone's impertinence to her.

***

Lan had almost let himself start hoping that Moiraine would not bring up the morning's occurrence, though really, there had never been a chance of that. At least she waited until they were in her room at the Winespring Inn that evening.

"There is still a matter of which we must speak. I heard the words the young Wisdom said to you as well as felt your reaction through the Bond."

Lan clenched his teeth and did not meet Moiraine's eyes. "That one boy we met earlier in the day was a spear short of looking like an Aielman. You think he's the one we've been looking for, don't you?"

"I do, but I won't let myself miss something important by making assumptions. Now, what are you going to do about Nynaeve al'Meara?"

Through the Bond, Lan could feel Moiraine's frustration mounting, but he did not care. There was no point to talking about it, and there were other things they should talk about. "All those boys are close to the right age, and not one has admitted to being born outside the Two Rivers. It only seems prudent at this point to keep an eye on all of them."

"It is, and we will." Moiraine compressed her lips. "You cannot avoid this, Lan. It is written into the Pattern. You will say those words as surely as a Foretelling comes to pass."

Temper flashed through Lan and he all but shouted at her. "Light, woman, what do you expect me to do? You've always known my life is sworn to fight the Shadow. I've even told you that if any woman spoke those words to me, it could come to nothing. You heard how I did not speak to her. It's best she never knows. She will be happier never seeing me again after we leave this village."

"A Soulmark is as much a reading of the Pattern as a Foretelling. What would you say to someone in such denial that a prophesy would come to pass? Our whole search for the past twenty years has been based on a Foretelling. Surely you do not think it could be wrong."

"Didn't you once say you'd heard of Soulmarks sometimes being one-sided?"

"And those accounts said that they became two-sided eventually, usually after some dramatic events in the lives of the two involved. It's still more likely your words are already on her and will turn when you speak to her. She may even have an important role to play in events to come."

Some of the heat drained out of Lan and he felt suddenly tired. "Fine. In any case, there's nothing I can do to change it. Surely there's something more useful we could discuss."

Moiraine sighed. "Yes, and it's even related. I've never heard of a place having so many Soulmarks as the Two Rivers. Perhaps this is another sign of the blood of Manetheren, but more relevant to us, there's a line in the Karaethon Cycle that almost certainly implies the Dragon will have three Soulmarks, though I've never heard of so much as two on anyone else, at least, not by reliable reports. They may not have appeared yet, but more likely they have than the herons or dragons."

Lan grunted.

"I'm not suggesting you go looking for them, at least not obviously." Moiraine was amused now, burn her. "In a town like this, that might have the young Wisdom 'thumping' you with her staff." She smiled openly at him now. He scowled back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story will primarily be about Rand and his three loves, but when I considered how much Lan would fight fate on this, I couldn't resist :) Besides, this scene occurred off screen, so it was fun to do a take on it, especially from Lan's POV.


	3. The Stag & Lion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For folks who've been reading as I posted:  
> *In the interest of being more consistent with the books, I capitalized all the Soulmark-related words, as all the other magic-related words are capitalized (including ones like Warder, Bond, Foretelling, etc).  
> *I updated the color change when the words of a Soulmark are said from grey->black to black->red. I decided grey and black just weren't unambiguously distinguishable enough.
> 
> Bolded lines are taken straight from canon p212-214 of EotW, chapter 14, The Stag and Lion. Some other lines closely paraphrased.

Rand had managed to keep the others from seeing his Soulmarks while they were on the road from Emond's Field to Baerlon, but he wasn't sure how he'd manage that now, with them all taking baths at the same time. The prospect of a hot bath was too good, though, and he couldn't bring himself to wait.

He tried to undress and wash quickly, facing away from Ara, the bathing attendant, and Thom, as inconspicuously as he could. Rand got into the tub as fast as he could manage in the hot water, lamenting that he didn't get to stretch out the process and enjoy it more.

Rand sank deep into the tub, trying to cross his arms over his chest at an awkward diagonal, though it wouldn't cover all of his Soulmark anyway. If only the water had more bubbles, like he'd heard some ladies' bath soap made. Only after he was in the water did it occurred to him he could cover his Mark with his washcloth. At least it wasn't quite so awkward as the way he'd been holding his arms. He even managed to relax and enjoy the hot water.

Though he'd had his doubts before, he was glad now that Perrin and Mat had already seen his Mark and wouldn't go commenting on it now. No, neither of them said anything about that - instead, Mat started talking about Trollocs.

They had such a hard time trying to get Mat to shut up that Rand was almost glad when Lan came in and put a stop to it like cold water on a fire. Still, Lan being there was worse than Thom or Ara. It wasn't Lan himself Rand was worried about, but if the Warder saw his Mark, he would tell Moiraine, and then she would surely pry about it. Light knew what Moiraine might do to him if she caught so much as a whiff of a male channeler associated with him.

Fortunately, Lan's attention settled on Perrin's arm. "Illian, eh? Have you made plans to go there?"

Perrin shrank deeper into the water. "I never wanted to leave Emond's Field at all. And I already want to go home."

Rand caught himself nodding, and even Mat looked subdued.

"You weren't curious to go out and try to find the person who'll say that to you?"

Perrin shrugged. "I figured it'll happen no matter what plans I make."

Lan nodded. "Indeed, blacksmith."

Mat leaned forward, eyeing Lan. "Hey, you have a Mark, and it's red." Mat grinned. "Of course it would be something about a sword. Is that how you met Moiraine?"

Lan glared so hard Mat shrank back until he was almost underwater, and the Warder's voice was as hard and sharp as steel. "That's no business of yours."

Rand resolved to stay in the tub until the water turned to ice if it was necessary to escape without Lan seeing his Mark. Fortunately, it didn't turn out to be necessary - Lan leaned back and closed his eyes, and after he'd stayed like that for some minutes, Rand decided this was as good a time to get out as he was likely to have soon and the water had cooled far enough.

Rand found he was to be in a room with Thom and Lan, but begged Perrin or Mat to switch with him. Perrin agreed. He didn't want to give the Aes Sedai or Warder any more reason to be suspicious of the three of them either.

Rand ate dinner, slept, and had nightmares about a man killing rats.

***

Lan stopped by Moiraine's room before going to bed himself. Moiraine was already in her dressing robe but gestured him in anyway. "Did you learn anything interesting this evening, my _Gaidin_?"

Lan gave a quick summary of the useless collection of rumors about the common room plus the Marks on the farmboys. "I only got a glimpse at the one on Rand, but it did make a full circle."

Moiraine raised her eyebrows fractionally. "That is certainly unusual. I wish you had been able to read it."

"Those boys have enough to worry about, or at least Rand and Perrin do. Rand clearly didn't want me to see, though I doubt he knew I got a look anyway." Lan shook his head. "That sheepherder may be able to move quietly in the woods, but he has no idea how to be nonchalant and hide things from people."

"That is well for us."

Lan nodded, though he was uneasy about the exchange. Those boys were going to have a rough time, and they weren't used to this sort of rough.

***

The next morning, Rand woke late, prepared to go out in the city, saw the crowds, then decided to spend just a few more minutes at the inn.

" **A shepherd with a heron-mark sword. That's almost enough to make me believe anything. What trouble are you in, downcountry boy?** "

Rand froze. The letters on his chest burned. He would have recognized the words even if they hadn't. _This_ was his Soulmate? It was the short-haired woman Moiraine had been talking with last night. She _was_ pretty, but she was dressed like a boy! And...what about the rest of the words on his chest?

" **You are Rand, aren't you? My name is Min.** "

Rand worked his mouth, mind desperately casting around for a response. It wouldn't do to have his Soulmate thinking poorly of him. " **I'm not in trouble. What makes you think I'm in trouble?** "

Her smile widened slowly, until her whole face lit up. "I'd wondered what kind of man I was going to wind up involved with, if those were his first words to me."

Rand swallowed. "I'm just a shepherd. Really. I don't want to cause any trouble for anyone."

"Perhaps you don't want to now, but...." She trailed off. "Well, at least one thing makes sense looking at you."

"What's that?"

She did not answer, but instead a slow smile spread across her face. "Let's just say that even before the Mark, I knew there was a connection between us."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I suppose I can trust you not to run and tell the Children about me. At least, I want to trust you." Min looked up at him, a question in her eyes.

Rand swallowed. "If I did have a problem, it wouldn't be the Children of the Light I went running to."

Min laughed. "Not quite the reassurance I was looking for, but I suppose it will do."

"You can trust me. I won't get you in trouble." He found, after he said them, that they were true. He wouldn't do anything to harm her, whatever she told him - but he also knew he wouldn't have cause to.

Min stepped closer to him, looking up at him with her big dark eyes. "Moiraine **said I see pieces of the Pattern**." She laughed softly. " **Sounds too grand, to me. I just see things when I look at people, and sometimes I know what they mean. I look at a man and a woman who've never even talked to one another, and I know they'll marry. And they do. That sort of thing. She wanted me to look at you. All of you together**."

 _They weren't supposed to call her Moiraine, not where anyone else could hear._ It was a distant thought, though. " **And what did you see?** "

" **When you're all in a group? Sparks swirling around you, thousands of them, and a big shadow, darker than midnight. It's so strong, I almost wonder why everybody can't see it. The sparks are trying to fill the shadow, and the shadow is trying to swallow the sparks. You are all tied together in something dangerous, but I can't make any more of it.** "

" **All of us? Egwene, too? But they weren't after--I mean--"**

" **The girl? She's part of it. And the gleeman. All of you. You're in love with her."** Rand opened his mouth, but no sound came out, so Min went on. **"I can tell that even without seeing any images. She loves you, too, but she's not for you, or you for her. Not the way you both want**."

An odd mix of emotions welled up in Rand, and words came out before he really had time to think about them. "Well, you would say that about another woman who was interested in me, wouldn't you?" He said it harsher than he would have intended and felt guilty immediately, but he wasn't sure what to say after that.

Rand expected her to be angry, or at least hurt, but she just smiled that mysterious smile again.

What _about_ Egwene? Could she still be one of the others? Would she go along with that, even if he promised to be faithful?

_Do I_ want _her to be one of the others?_

The last thought came as a shock. He and Egwene had argued on the way from Emond's Field, true, but people argued. She was angry, but she'd come around. And it wasn't her fault she was touching the Source.

Rand felt torn between edging away from Min and stepping toward her. On the on hand, she made him uncomfortable, with her mysteriousness and her strange ability. On the other, well, he couldn't deny he felt some draw to her. Was it really because they were Soulmates, or did Rand just feel something because he expected to?

" **What do you see when you look at...the rest of us?** "

" **All sorts of things.** " Min glanced around the stable, then looked back to Rand. **"** The Warder **has seven ruined towers around his head, and a babe in a cradle holding a sword, and....** Warders and Aes Sedai **always have so many images they crowd one another. The strongest images around the gleeman are a man--not him--juggling fire, and the White Tower, and that doesn't make any sense at all for a man. The strongest things I see about the big, curly-haired fellow are a wolf, and a broken crown, and trees flowering all around him. And the other one--a red eagle, an eye on a balance scale, a dagger with a ruby, a horn, and a laughing face. There are other things, but you see what I mean, this time I can't make up or down out of any of it.** And you - I know that's what you really want to ask--" Rand nodded, and she went on, "Nothing more I can make sense out of either. **A sword that isn't a sword, a golden crown of laurel leaves, a beggar's staff, you pouring water on sand, a bloody hand and a white-hot iron, three women standing over a funeral bier with you on it, black rock wet with blood--** "

" **All right, you don't have to list it all.** "

" **Most of all, I see lightning around you, some striking at you, some coming out of you. I don't know what any of it means, except for one thing. You and I will meet again.** " She smiled. "I would expect as much, but it's good to know." She patted his cheek, and he jerked back as if burned, and yet he also didn't want her to stop.

 _But Egwene-- This isn't how it's supposed to--_ " **I have to go.** " He backed up, half-tripping over a pile of hay, then scrambled to get out to the street. He took one last glance back at Min. She had another of those curious little smiles, knowing and perhaps a little sad. "I'll be here when you get back," she called to him.

*

Min watched the tall young man scamper out into the street. A shepherd. Her Soulmate was a shepherd. And barely old enough to be called "marriageable age" in his downcountry village. But all that she'd seen around him - even if she didn't know what what any of it meant, he going to see some excitement. Besides, he was traveling with an Aes Sedai, and he did have that sword. At least the Pattern wasn't sentencing her to an interminably dull life on a farm. And he did have a nice face, one that looked like it would get better with age, even if, in this case, that meant losing baby fat.

It was foolish, perhaps, but those grand or chilling visions weren't the ones that concerned her most. That one vision over him - three women would love him, Min and two others. But she was his Soulmate. Did that mean she would get him and the other two would not? Would he return their feelings? Was he destined to be unfaithful, or just tempted? Or was there more to this? Was this what that symbol with her Mark meant?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As I said, I don't like rehashing stuff too much, much less copying, but I decided Min's visions really needed to get in there, and the conversation would go similarly, except with more instinctive trust between Rand and Min.


	4. An Arrival and a Departure

Lan had never imagined such a storm could come in such a small form. He wouldn't have been surprised if she'd brought wind and lightning with her.

Of course Nynaeve al'Meara had shown up in Baerlon. Of course she had. And if anyone could talk her into going safely back to Emond's Field, Moiraine could.

Like most Borderlanders, Lan did not have a high opinion of the Game of Houses or those who played it, but he'd always respected the control Moiraine had over her expression and how she used it so intentionally. At the moment, he primarily admired the way she showed barely a hair of the frustration that oozed through the Bond as Nynaeve followed insinuation with accusation with outright insult. And Nynaeve did not back down from Moiraine's glares - glares that had withered more than a few rulers. This tiny woman would not have hesitated to defend those three tall solid boys from a lion. Or from an Aes Sedai and her Blademaster Warder.

It did not matter. The Wisdom was going back to her village, away from the dangers that pursued the probable Dragon Reborn. Perhaps Moiraine could placate her by sending Egwene home with her.

Nynaeve and Moiraine hit a growling detente, and Nynaeve shook her head, pushing herself away from the table, then stood and started pacing the room. The Wisdom stopped in front of Lan and looked up at him, glaring, though it was more likely her anger at the situation than anything about him. "You're just going to help her whatever she does, aren't you?"

Lan pressed his lips together and grunted.

One of Nynaeve's hands gripped her long braid, something she'd done several times already that morning. "Don't you have any qualms about kidnapping four youths?"

Lan just gave her a hard look. She did not falter.

She sniffed loudly. "Do you speak? Why won't you answer me?"

"You will know as soon as I do," Lan growled.

Nynaeve's eyes went wide. And then she slapped him.

"You knew! You've known since Winternight! And you've been deliberately avoiding saying anything to me!"

"I only thought to spare you pain. I am bound to a battle that will kill me. All I could offer you as a brideprice is widow's black. I wish you luck in finding happiness with someone else."

She was shaking. Then, he could all but see her pull herself together and press forward, as one might wrap a tight splint on a broken leg bone and then keep walking on it. This woman.

Nynaeve very conspicuously didn't look at Moiraine. The Wisdom forced her face to composure and drew a deep breath before answering. "Well, I've heard sometimes Soulmates don't wind up together. Maybe I shouldn't be too surprised. Wisdoms usually don't marry. I'll take Egwene and the boys home and that will be the end of it."

Nynaeve pointedly turned back to Moiraine and resumed their...debate. Within a few minutes, Egwene came in, and then the boys and the gleeman. Lan noted mud on Rand and Mat, and an extra tension on those two that seemed like more than their Wisdom showing up. Lan noted a great many things about Rand, Mat, Perrin, and Thom, paying close attention to their words and reactions. He'd almost managed to wall off his thoughts about the Wisdom, until it came out that she'd followed the backtrail Lan had tried to hide, and he could not hide his surprise, nor stop himself from being impressed.

Peace, what a mess.

***

Min heard word from two others who worked at the inn that something strange had happened (one claimed shadowspawn by the kitchens!) and that "Mistress Alys" and her party were leaving in a rush, but she didn't really believe it until she saw them with their belongings bundled on their backs or under their arms heading for the stables. Including Rand al'Thor.

He was leaving. He was her Soulmate, and he was leaving. Should she go with him? No, that didn't seem right - this wasn't the time. He was good looking, but...she couldn't be in love with him already, could she? Was that something that came with being Soulmates? It would work out. She would see him again.

No amount of confidence in her viewings, nor even her mixed feelings about this strange sheepherder, could make her just accept that he was leaving, though.

*

After Rand nearly got killed by a Fade, he and the others made haste to leave. Nynaeve came out after Egwene, saddlebags in hand.

Lan strode in front of Nynaeve, stopping her as thoroughly as a rock wall. "I would far rather you go back to your village, Wisdom."

"That's not up to you. And I'm not leaving the others alone with... _her_ sort," Nynaeve said, flicking her eyes toward Moiraine, then standing up straighter. "And that's the _only_ reason I'm coming."

Lan grunted, and Nynaeve continued briskly to her horse. What was _that_ about?

At any rate, if Nynaeve was coming, it meant she _was_ part of it. Min was right.

Min was back there. Would she Min be hurt, staying here? _She said we'd meet again._ Was that enough to know she'd be safe?

He thought about saying something, then considered how Egwene might feel, and then felt terrible for worrying about that against Min's safety.

If they were Soulmates, they had to meet again, didn't they? At least, Min had said they would meet again, and she seemed sure. And if Min stayed here, that meant that Rand would come back. He would come home.

Multiple times during or after getting chased by hundreds of Trollocs and several Fades, then encountering Mordeth and getting split up by Mashadar, Rand decided that it was probably better that Min hadn't joined them. Until this was all over, she would be safer away from him.


	5. Thunderstorms and Baby Fat

_Several years earlier_

Morgase sat in her small reception hall, going over correspondences until Master Norrie showed up. With the heavy clouds, it was half dark outside at noon. A flash lit the windows brighter than a summer day, and mere seconds later, another peal of thunder shook the walls, louder than any so far that day. The Queen shivered. She'd never liked thunderstorms.

Someone was approaching, but it wasn't Norrie. Small footsteps came running into the room. "Mama! Mama! Words showed up on me! I didn't write them there myself, I promise! Is something wrong with me?"

Elayne skidded to a stop in front of her. Normally Morgase would chide the child for running about in the formal halls with so little decorum, but her lips trembled and she seemed on the verge of tears. No, this called for comfort, not admonitions. Elayne was, after all, still a child, Daughter-Heir or not.

Words on her? That could only be one thing. Morgase leaned forward and put her hands on Elayne's shoulders. "No, dear, I don't think anything is wrong with you. Tell me, where are the words?" Elayne pointed at her chest, so Morgase said, "Let's go back to my rooms and you can show me."

Only residually sniffling now, Elayne nodded, and they walked to Morgase's dressing room. More thunder rattled the walls, even here, where there were no windows. She would _not_ let the weather unsettle her. "All right, let's see."

Elayne reached to undo the top buttons of her dress, and Morgase helped. She didn't have to get the dress all the way off, or even far down - a Mayener neckline would have shown the text. Probably even a Tairen neckline.

_I'm fine. I just-- I'll just climb back over the wall._

_"Climb back over the wall"?_ Morgase narrowly stopped herself from sighing. What kind of trouble was this boy going to be? And with something like that, perhaps she'd meet him soon, while they were both still children. No matter, though. She needed to explain this to her daughter.

"Dear, that's a Soulmark. You are lucky to have one - not many people do. It means you have a Soulmate, someone whose soul fits with yours in a special way. Those will be the first words he says to you, and your first words to him will be written on him, if they aren't already."

Elayne's eyes went wide. "A boy? You mean one that I'm going to marry? Eww!"

Morgase laughed. "You'll change your mind. But don't worry about it - it's nothing you have to worry about now, not for years."

"I don't want to marry anyone. And you said you wouldn't make me!"

Morgase shook her head. She was going to respond, but something caught her eye. There wasn't just text. There was a small symbol, three circles interlinked. What could that be? Morgase pointed to it. "Did you draw that part?"

Her daughter shook her head, raising her little chin and looking indignant. "I haven't drawn on myself in months!"

"So it just appeared as well, when the words did?"

Elayne nodded. "What about it? Is it part of the Soulmark?"

"I suppose it is, though I don't know what it means. Would you mind if Elaida looked at it? She might know."

At Elayne's agreement, Morgase sent an attendant to fetch her Aes Sedai advisor, who glided in a few minutes later, deep red skirts flowing behind her.

"Elaida, have you seen a figure like this with a Soulmark?"

The stately woman narrowed her eyes and shook her head. "I have not. It certainly is curious. I would investigate this further."

Morgase spoke delicately but firmly. "I trust your discretion on this matter."

"Of course, Morgase. There is a Brown sister in the Tower I trust for sensitive research. I will send a messenger to her, without revealing to whom the query pertains."

Elayne looked between the two grown women, eyes wide. "So it is something wrong with me?"

"It is unknown, and therefore caution is merited," Elaida said.

Morgase put a hand on Elayne's still-bare shoulder. The girl had her arms crossed holding her dress up as high as possible without covering any of the writing. "It's nothing wrong with you," Morgase said. "But as Elaida Sedai said, we don't know what it means. Besides which, it is custom to keep the words hidden until they've burned to red."

"The words burn?" Elayne looked alarmed.

"My apologies, daughter; I didn't explain it to you fully. When your Soulmate says the words, they will change from black to red and feel hot. You will know."

Elayne still looked deeply skeptical. "But it hurts?"

"I have heard it does not - warm, but not painful. But I have no Mark myself, and I haven't spoken with many who do. They are not very common. If you want to know more from one with first hand experience, I can arrange for us to meet with Elenia Sarand. She and Jared have matching Marks on their forearms, and they're happy to show them off. But as I said, do not show yours or reveal what it says - or that curious symbol it contains."

Elayne looked serious again and Morgase had to hold back a smile. Of course she wanted to cultivate proper demeanor and control in the Daughter-Heir, but with the baby fat still on her cheeks, Elayne's serious looks were adorable.

"I will keep that in mind," Elayne said, but did not request a meeting with Elenia, so Morgase let it drop for now.

***

_Months later_

Taking lunch in her study, Morgase looked up sharply when Elaida entered. Usually her advisor didn't come to speak with her at lunch - but Morgase's time had been full lately.

Elaida sat in the chair across from Morgase. "I heard back from the Brown sister I contacted." Her tone and expression added extra meaning - the one she'd contacted about Elayne's Soulmark.

"What did she find?"

A log popped in the hearth, throwing a cinder to the bare floor in front of it, but Elaida reacted not in the slightest. "She reported that she could not find many references, and the ones she did find were vague. Not only that, but the writers seemed to be talking around something, as if they were uncomfortable with whatever was going on. My contact included copies of relevant passages in case I could make more of them."

"I see. I would like to see those passages myself, but for now, do you have any guesses?"

"More people are involved than a single Soulmate, but I cannot say how." Elaida looked as if she'd bitten into food that didn't taste quit right. "If I may be indelicate, it may be she will have both a husband and a lover."

Morgase kept her face neutral. "I suppose I would be a hypocrite to disparage her for it, so long as she doesn't have both at the same time. When she is of an appropriate age, I shall speak with her." A few more years yet, but she would have a talk with her daughter about the importance of known lineage to ensuring stable rule. Andor, in only having queens, had the advantage that the queen's oldest daughter was first in line to the throne, regardless of who the father was or whether the queen was even married, but marriage alliances needed to be respected - a house expecting its blood to get into the royal line could make serious trouble if that expectation were betrayed. Light knew Morgase had needed to exercise restraint while Taringail had been alive.

***

_A few years later_

Since her children had been old enough to carry on a conversation, Morgase had made a point of having dinner with them at least once a week, all at once if she could only spare one night, but one on one if she could manage. Usually the individual dinners made for more open and vulnerable conversation, but tonight, Elayne seemed withdrawn and distracted, and Morgase did not believe it was just because the girl was suffering the moods and pains of entering womanhood.

"Dear, what's the matter? You clearly have something on your mind."

Elayne hunched into her shoulders, but before Morgase could say anything, her daughter sat up straight and spoke quickly. "Mother, if I meet a boy, and he doesn't say those words, does it mean he's not my Soulmate?"

Morgase spoke carefully. "I believe that's the case, though I don't know for sure. As I said, they are rare, and while there's certainly nothing shameful in having one - it's considered to be a wonderful thing - it is generally impolite to ask. I've heard it's possible for the words to burn after the two have been apart for some time, or after something important changes between them."

Elayne licked her lips. "Would...any boy who says those words to me first be my Soulmate?"

Morgase grinned. "Are you thinking of inducing some boy to say those words to you? No, child, it doesn't work that way - Soulmates are fixed from the moment both of you are born, even if the Marks don't show up right away."

"Is there...anything else I should know about the Mark or Soulmates?"

"You will meet, one way or another. You will be drawn to each other. Nothing after that is guaranteed. Nothing says you have to be together, though I've never heard of anyone choosing not to be with their Soulmate. And it doesn't mean your relationship will be without conflicts or problems. All it means, that I know of, is that your souls have some special connection."

Elayne hesitated, then blurted out, "One of the other girls said Soulmates are two halves of a whole and complete each other."

Morgase waved a hand. "Rubbish. Folktales. You are complete as you are. You will likely have a wonderful romance, and you will likely help each other, and may even accomplish important things together, but you are your own woman. Never forget that."

Elayne smiled, finally seeming less tense. "Thank you, mother."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No, I don't have a reason why Elayne's Mark showed up at a younger age than Rand's. This was the way it came to me and I went with it. I also liked the idea of a scene with Elayne as a child but still showing the characteristics we see in the book (particularly the lifted chin).


End file.
